Car plastic waste recycling
Due to the present EU Directives, there is an huge amount of different kind of plastics coming from car wastes management that, if correctly treated, can be of a great interest for recycling industries.
Thanks to its long experience, SOREMA can offer state-of-the-art recycling solutions, tailored to the customer’s requirements, to properly recycle all kind of plastic materials coming from car waste management, such as:
- Car Bumpers (with the adequate hot and/or cold washing systems, SOREMA can properly treat this kind of material, including special process toremove paint)
- Car Batteries
- Car fuel tanks
- Car mixed plastics
The importance of vehicle recycling is made evident by the increasing amount of businesses and individuals getting involved in this activity. Today, car manufacturers themselves are also engaging in the recycling process. In addition, many car companies are using recycled plastics in their vehicles.
In the United States alone, 12 to 15 million vehicles reach the end of the lives every year, becoming an important source for high value materials.
An EU directive from 2000 increased significantly the percentage, in weight, of car components that must be recycled. While most of the metal components were already being recovered, the European directive essentially set a high bar for the recycling of plastic components.
Several different parts of a car are made of plastic. Many modern vehicles contain about 50% plastics in volume. Actually, the high resistance and durability of plastic components, coupled with their low weight is one of the main reasons for which they are so extensively used: the possibility of reducing the weight of the vehicle reduces fuel consumption. The most abundant plastic materials present in cars are: PU (Polyurethane), accounting for about 19% in weight of all plastic materials; PP (Polypropylene), which makes up 15% of plastics; PE (Polyethylene), 11% in weight; Polyester, 11% in weight; PVC (Polyvinyl chloride), 8% in weight; and ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene), 6% in weight.
Probably the most evident plastic component is the bumper, made of PP. Car lights also have plastic covers, which protect them from atmospheric agents. The material with which these covers are manufactured is usually PMMA (Poly(methyl metacrylate)). Other plastic components include the dashboard, seat belts, air bag, carpeting, cup holders and the fabric covering the seats.